The Xiangyang Hong 09, carrying a crewed deep-sea submersible named Jialong, docks in the port city of Qingdao, in Shandong province, in July 2012. In 2020, China announced a joint training center with the International Seabed Authority, to be housed in Qingdao. (Yang Tongyu/ImagineChina/AP)
The Chinese vessel Dayang Yihao, seen in July 2018, has spent time in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone near Hawaii conducting research for deep-sea mining. (Xue Hun/Imaginechina/AP)